


Talons and Tea Leaves

by soiturnonthetelevision



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Battle of Hogwarts, Canon Compliant, Divination, Ficlet, Gen, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Lavender-centric, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-08-18 06:59:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8153126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soiturnonthetelevision/pseuds/soiturnonthetelevision
Summary: Lavender was never much for early mornings. But these days were different. She’d lie in bed for what felt like ages every morning unable to get up, closing her eyes, wishing things were different. But when she opened her eyes nothing had changed, and she didn’t even need to open the drapes of her bed to confirm it. Ever since she’d come back to Hogwarts for her last year it was like she could feel it in her heart- the dread, the Dark Lord’s influence, the darkness that was descending on all of them. A collection of scenes following Lavender and Parvati (and a younger host of Gryffindor girls) as they try to keep hope and faith alive during the Dark Lord's ascent. In other words- how Lavender Brown makes it through her seventh year at Hogwarts.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there guys! So excited to be a part of Obscuro! First fic challenge I've ever done! And I'm pretty sure I bungled this a bit- my prompt was for four characters (Dean, Pansy, Lavender, and Daphne) and instead I wrote a completely Lavender-centric fic. I didn't realize I'd messed up until a couple days before the story was due so I thought I'd post it anyway and hope that the person who asked for it wouldn't be too disappointed. Anywho, here it is- hope you enjoy!

Lavender was never much for early mornings. But these days were different. She’d lie in bed for what felt like ages every morning unable to get up, closing her eyes, wishing things were different. But when she opened her eyes nothing had changed, and she didn’t even need to open the drapes of her bed to confirm it. Ever since she’d come back to Hogwarts for her last year it was like she could feel it in her heart- the dread, the Dark Lord’s influence, the darkness that was descending on all of them.

 

\-----

 

After breakfast one day Lavender and Parvati glanced at each other across the table. Wordlessly they flipped their cups over on their saucers and slid them across the table to one another. They’d done this every day since their first Divination class four years ago. All Lavender could find in Parvati’s cup these days were Grims, crosses, and all other manner of dark omens.

Today Lavender had had enough.

“You’ve got a sun here Parvati,” she said, a small smile crossing her face. “It means you’ve got happiness in your future.”

An expression of shock crossed Parvati’s face, swiftly followed by a knowing smile.

"Give it here,” Parvati said, reaching for the cup. “Let's see.”

Lavender ran her finger through the tea leaves, obscuring the messages of doom.

“Here,” she said, handing the cup back across the table.

The girls smiled, but the moment didn’t last long. A finger run through tea leaves couldn’t change all the doom and gloom around them. For a moment, Lavender wished it could.

 

\-----

 

Back in the Gryffindor common room that night Lavender and Parvati sat quietly on two of the old crumbling arm chairs tucked against a wall. Lavender looked at Parvati, unable to come up with anything to say. Their first day of their seventh year should have been cause for joy and celebration- the beginning of the end of all their hard work. Instead it had felt like the beginning of the end of the world.

Snape had taught Defense Against the Dark Arts as though Voldemort himself could come waltzing through the door at any moment. Lavender wasn’t sure if that thought excited Professor Snape or scared him. McGonagall attempted strength later in the afternoon but even her steely resolve couldn’t hide the fear she clearly felt, the fear that had seemed to seep into everyone’s bones.

She and Parvati didn’t need to say a word to one another to share the horror they felt was just around the corner. Lavender had watched as Padma and Parvati had hugged at the end of dinner, as though they were afraid one or both of them wouldn’t make it through the night. Lavender couldn’t say she blamed them.

More in an attempt to distract herself from her morose thoughts than for any other reason, she lay her hand in Parvati’s lap. Parvati smiled at Lavender’s palm and then started her palm reading, tracing the lines of Lavender’s hand and telling her how she would have a happy family and live a long and healthy life.

Lavender looked away as Parvati shared her fate. Parvati’s reading was familiar to her. Lavender noticed a small first year girl sitting silently amongst a couple friends. She was staring at Lavender and Parvati. Lavender smiled at her and the small girl looked away immediately. Lavender felt an enormous surge of pity. Lavender’s first week at Hogwarts had been one of the best of her life. These first years looked scared out of their wits.

“Hey,” she impulsively called out to the young girls. “Come over here.”

The girls all looked scared for a minute and a small strained conversation ensued before the boldest one stood up and walked over to the older girls, the look in her eyes almost like a challenge. The rest of the girls followed.

Parvati looked confused but said nothing.

“Have you ever heard about palm reading before?” Lavender asked.

“Yeah, I’ve heard about it,” the bold girl said.

“Here,” Lavender said, reaching out her hand to the small girl whose glance she’d noticed a moment before.

The girl hesitated for a moment before placing her hand in Lavender’s, clearly trying to look braver than she felt.

“You have a very strong life line,” Lavender said, tracing the line across the young girl’s palm.

She looked at the young girl’s face and smiled. The girl smiled back.

“What’s your name?” Lavender asked.

“Terry,” the young girl said, still shyly smiling at Lavender.

“Well, Terry,” Lavender continued, looking back at her small palm, “I can see here that you’re going to live a long happy life with a wonderful loving family.”

An enormous smile broke out over the first year’s face as she withdrew her hand and held it to her heart.

“Me next,” said the bold girl, sticking out her hand. Lavender and Parvati shared a smile.

 

\-----

 

It was rare that Lavender and Parvati had a moment to themselves after that night. The first year Gryffindor girls flocked around them wherever they went. They sat with them at breakfast, asking to have their tea leaves read. Lavender even found herself escorting the girls to their classrooms in between classes like the professors used to in moments of danger. Lavender found a bit of peace in those small moments of guardianship. She thought the girls might’ve been finding peace as well if their smiles were anything to go by. It was good for all of them to find something to focus on, so the the dismal headlines didn’t bring them down too much. So they could find a way to keep going.

 

\-----

 

One night Lavender couldn’t sleep, her mind plagued by images of Dumbledore’s body falling from the astronomy tower. She threw the covers off, and quietly opened her canopy, sneaking past a sleeping Parvati. She passed the empty space Hermione’s bed would’ve been and stole down to the Common Room. She sat there for hours, staring out the window, almost in a trance in her exhaustion.

Then she heard a small scuffling behind her coming from the girls’ staircase. Lavender gripped her wand as she glanced behind her, breath coming in fast. A small head poked out the doorway. It was Terry. Lavender exhaled and loosened the grip on her wand. Lavender could see that Terry still held hers with a shaking grip.

“It’s alright,” Lavender said, standing, up. “It’s just me.”

The little girl nodded her head, clearly near tears.

“Did you have nightmares?” Lavender asked her.

The girl shook her head, tears threatening to spill over.

“Come here,” Lavender said, walking over to the couch in front of the fire. Even though the fires were lower this year, as though Snape wanted the entire castle to feel like the dungeons, it was still one of the coziest spots in the room. The girls huddled together a bit for warmth and sat watching the fire together in silence. It was mere minutes before Lavender fell into a deeper sleep than she’d experienced in weeks.

Lavender and Terry ended up meeting each other in the Common Room in the middle of the night every other week or so, and Lavender never slept better than the nights in front of the fire, providing this small child with what comfort she could.

 

\-----

 

It felt like the castle would crumble around her at any moment. No one knew which way to run. Everywhere you turned there were trolls, and Death Eaters, and rubble where there should be walls. Lavender felt like she was losing her mind, and all she knew to do was to not stop running.

But then she heard a noise that stopped her in her tracks. A high, piercing scream. Lavender didn’t even think- she just moved. She sprinted towards the sound, though she knew nothing good could come of it. It was only moments before she saw Terry, so small, next to a hulking, terrifying looking man who must have been Fenrir Greyback. He was practically salivating, and the girl was trapped.

“You!” Lavender shrieked. And before she even knew what she was doing, she threw a curse at the man’s broad back.

The last thing she remembered was the crazed, murderous look in his eyes and the sound of the little girl sobbing behind him.

 

\-----

 

They sat in the ruined Great Hall, eyes not seeing, ears not hearing. Parvati’s head rested on Lavender’s shoulder as Lavender sat supported by the wall behind them. Lavender hadn’t even been able to stand yet. She didn’t know who was alive, who was gone. She didn’t even fully know what would become of her torn up and battered body. How she might feel at the the full moon in two weeks time. But she knew she was alive, and so was Parvati, and she would cling to that.

She sensed the little girl before she saw her, and almost couldn’t believe her eyes as Terry made her way over to Lavender, a tea cup and saucer in her hands. Where in the world this child had gotten tea Lavender couldn’t even begin to guess.

“Thank you,” the girl said. “You saved me.”

Lavender didn’t know what to say or do. She nodded, unsure that her voice would work.

The girl moved closer and held out her drained cup to Lavender.

“Will you read it?” she asked.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first HP fic! Woot woo! I loved spending time thinking about Lavender. Might have to write more about her in the future.


End file.
